Ewes, Lambs & Rams

In 2018 the sheep continued to be a rich source of fiber for my Etsy shop which has expanded to include roving, core spun rug yarn, and craft yarn.  Check out  all my yarn products on my Etsy shop  website Farmofbeautysheep.  Three lambs added include Reyna (white lamb pictured with River, a solid moorit), Rosa (solid black lamb pictured with Njala),  and Rada (a moorit gray lamb pictured enjoying the last tastes of fall pasture grass).  Nina, a tan gray moorit and Noni, a cream colored badgerface pictured with a black ewe between them display some of the contrasting colors that are most notable right after shearing.  The two black mouflon ewes, Aurora and Natalia, both appear to sport a bit of gray after shearing.  Nott and Njala (previously pictured) are also a dark gray, in contrast to Ny who is a solid black.  Leaka, a tan gray moorit and Lily, a white spotted SGGM, are the “old ladies” of the flock.  Both are always the first to kid and both always have lambs with beautiful fleeces.  Oslo, nicknamed LoLo, completes the current group.  She is an exceptionally friendly gray yearling who was acquired in 2017 swap.

In 2017 the breeding ewes were shuffled to diversify fleece colors and to continue to build a flock of milky ewes. Margret who lambed a solid moorit and a black and white spotted ram last year and Nancy a yearling with exceptional parasite resistance (never treated!) were sold as part of a starter flock. The farm added two 2 year olds- a homozygous gray ewe (Juanita) and a white (cream color) ewe (Crystal); Aurora, a black mouflon yearling (Dominik’s twin) and her carbon copy lamb Portia; and Oslo, a parasite resistant homozygous gray ewe lamb that was acquired in a swap

 Although there are only three dairy ewes at the farm, they supply plenty of rich fresh milk that gets used for cream and cheeses with ample amount for freezing that gets used through the year until the onset of the next milking season.  Like the Icelandics, the fleeces are used for various weight yarns.  Both Molly, a solid brown ewe and Monique, a cream colored ewe with brown and black spots produce a lovely natural gray fleece.  Naomi contributes cream colored fleece to the yarn pool. 

 Three well-mannered Icelandic rams, two Icelandic wethers, and two dairy rams complete the flock.  With the onset of cooler weather and shorter days, the rams are anxious to breed, wrecking havoc with a photoshoot.